And, the local news reports indicate a both a dramatic drop in traffic and a decrease in travel time for the folks who ride the MTA buses. The only big losers–so far–are the owners of the extortionate parking garages, who are hurting for business. Who knows… perhaps they will drop their rate from the current $30 per hour in order to attract business?
I know parking in Boston has gone down in recent years. Probably because many people are working at home and no longer need the monthly parking. Some garages are really hurting for business.
One of the worst places for parking is on a large university campus. When I was in my 2nd round of graduate school, we lived in married student housing. I.paid the $25 a semester for a campus bus pass. I would get on the bus and be in the building in 5 minutes where my classes were held and I had an office as a graduate assistant.
There were graduate students that were on the same program that I was on. They lived off campus in luxury apartments. They fought traffic every day and had to search for parking. These students were there a year before I enrolled and were still there after I finished my coursework 2 years later.
Our son took a page out of my notebook. He is on the faculty at a mid-sized state university. Before he accepted the job, he lived 35 minutes away from campus. After he got the job, he sold his house and bought a condo that is a 5 minute walk to his office. He says that the move gives him an extra hour a day, plus he doesn’t have to worry about parking.
Most of those anti gubmint types is that they’re most dependent on government. Many are first responders. Guess who is their boss? Or they drive on government highways. Or send their kids to government schools. Or collect government social security or Medicare. I could go on and on.
Frankly I think we should take them at their word. End all government spending. The smart and/or ambitious will somehow adapt. And the anti gubmint types? Whatever.
Chicagoan here. No tolls in Chicago except the skyway bridge. And our expressways are bumper to bumper even off peak. And poorly maintained.
Maybe you’re thinking of the suburbs which have toll roads. They’re excellent. Well maintained. Relatively light traffic. And relatively cheap. I wish the expressways in Chicago were toll too.
…or take mass transit. NYC’s mass transit makes owning a car unnecessary, so it’s not as if the congestion charge would do more than irritate people who choose to drive when they don’t have to.
As a resident of Florida, I’d love to have the option of not owning a car, but mass transit here is terribly ineffective and the state legislature refuses to do anything about our skyrocketing insurance premiums. They’re too busy distracting voters with wedge issues to fix actual problems.
You’ve cited examples of states that spend less, but you haven’t substantiated your case that they are actually more efficient. Spending less doesn’t mean they aren’t more wasteful.
My family in Illinois don’t consider it a high tax state. The income tax rate there is only 4.95%.
Do you get the same services from the state of Florida that you got in other states? I used to live in Ohio. My state, local and property taxes were much higher in Ohio than Florida but the services are as good or better. I lived in 2 different counties where I paid for trash pickup. I live in Lee county and my trash gets picked up 3 times a week (trash, recycling, and vegetation) for the cost of my much lower property taxes. Just my personal experiences.
As for comparisons with the rest of the country… look to educational performance, road quality, poverty levels, ect.
As for insurance… we live in a state with the greatest exposure to hurricanes with most of the population living on the coast at less that 10 foot elevation. What do you want the legislature to do?
Cap the cost? …That will chase the rest of the insurers out of the state.
Force everyone to update their homes to 2025 building codes? …That will make insurance cheaper (I know it will, I did that) but it will cost homeowners quite a bit.(It did cost quite a bit)
We are open to your suggestions, so post your ideas to reduce insurance costs. Or better yet, email your legislators
That’s how I did it, could study while riding the bus, another advantage. A friend thought this was too “pedestrian” for him, so parked on campus where he wanted and just ignored the tickets, thinking he’e only be there a year or two & would never have to pay them. He developed a big frown come graduation time; he told me he had to pay all the old parking tickets and add’l fines for not paying on time, or he woudn’t be allowed to graduate … lol … He said he’d get even by not donating any money to the alumni ass’n.